JAKARTA (Indonesia) - AN AIRPORT chief says a small commuter plane carrying 30 passengers skidded off the runway on arrival in Indonesia's remote Papua province, but no one was injured.

Mr Sutrisno, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said on Monday that the Dornier 328 turboprop airplane veered into a field Sunday shortly after touchdown. The plane, operated by Express Air, lost its landing gear and a propeller.

Mr Sutrisno said investigators were heading to the airstrip in Boven Digul district, 3,700 kilometres east of the capital, Jakarta.

Indonesia has 17,000 islands and relies heavily on air transport.

Hundreds of people have died in a series of crashes in recent years, prompting the European Union to ban all Indonesian carriers from landing there. -- AP